Walking aid



March 20, 1956 w. G. BLACK WALKING AID 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 28, 1953 PViZZia m G.,BZ

TTORNEY March 20, 1956 w. G. BLACK 2,738,830

WALKING AID Filed Jan. 28, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5/ INVENTOR Patented Mar. 20, 1956 WALKING AID William G. Black, Ink, Ark. Application January 28, 1953, Serial No. 333,799

4 Claims. (Cl. '155-22) This invention relates to a novel form of walking aid or supporting structure to be used by cripples, infirm and lame persons and which may be effectively employed by persons who are unable to move about with the use of conventional crutches.

More particularly, it is an aim of the present invention to provide a walker which is self supporting and which will afford a sturdy and substantial support for a cripple, weak or infirm person and which includes relatively movable pairs of legs which are spread and retracted by a simple up and down movement of a handle portion for causing the walker to advance in front of the user and to afford a firm and steady support for the user at all times while the walker is stationary or in movement.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel construction of walker which is extremely durable in construction to adequately support the weight of a heavy man yet which is relatively light in weight so that it can be readily operated and used by a weak or infirm person.

A further object of the invention is to provide a walker which will afford a substantial support for the user at all times even while a part of the walker is being advanced in front of the user.

Another object of the invention is to provide a walker which may be readily adjusted to accommodate persons of different heights and which may be readily collapsed for storage when not in use.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawings, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational view of the walker;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view thereof;

Figures 3, 4 and are enlarged vertical sectional views taken substantially along planes as indicated by the line 3-3, 44 and 55, respectively, of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 66 of Figure 2;

Figure 7 is a cross sectional view through one ofthe front legs taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 7-7 of Figure 3;

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 8-8 of Figure 4, and

Figure 9 is a sectional view, partly in elevation, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line-"9-9 of Figure 1.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the novel walker or walking aid in its entirety is illustrated in Figures l and 2 and is designated generally 10 and includes a front section, designated generally 11 and a rear section, designated generally 12.

The front section 11 includes substantially parallel tubular members 13 which are connected by an upper cross brace 14 and a lower cross brace 15, which combine with the tubular members 13 to form the'intermediate portion of the front section 11. A pair of front supporting legs 16 have upper end portions 17 which fit slidably and turnably in the lower ends of the tubular members 13. Said supporting legs 16 have straight lower end portions 18 on the lower ends of which are mounted foot members 19 which are preferably formed of rubber. The supporting legs 16 also include intermediate portions 20 which are disposed diagonally to the end portions 17 and 18 for offsetting said end portions from one another.

A substantially U-shaped handle member 21 includes an intermediate portion 22 forming a handgrip and substantially parallel legs 23 the end portions of which telescopically fit into the upper ends of the tubular members 13. The handle member 21 may also be provided with a cross brace 24 extending between and connected at its ends to the legs 23 and which is located adjacent the handgrip 22. The legs 23 are bent as seen at 25 in Figure 1 near their upper ends so that the upper portions of the legs 23 extend upwardly and rearwardly with respect to the axes of the tubular members 13 for positioning the handgrip 22 behind the plane of the front section 11.

Each end of each of the tubular members 13 is provided with a clamping unit 26 for adjustably clamping the handle legs 23 in the upper ends of said tubular members 13 at different extended positions of the handle member 21 and for adjustably clamping the supporting leg portions 17 at different extended positions in the lower ends of the tubular members 13 and with the lower leg portions 18 in different positions relatively to the axes of the tubular members 13, as for example as illustrated in Figure 2 with said leg portions 18 and foot members 19 outwardly offset relatively to the tubular members 13 for increasing the stability of the forward section 11. As illustrated in Figures 3 and 5, each clamping unit 26 preferably includes an externally threaded collar 27 which is brazed or otherwise secured around an end of one of the tubes 13. The collars 27 are externally tapered toward their inner ends and are provided with a plurality of slots 28 which align with slots 29 of the tube end on which the collar 27 is disposed. Each clamping unit 26 also includes a nut 30 which engages the thread of the collar 27 and which will compress the collar and tube end surrounded thereby when the nut 30 is turned in a direction to advance it toward the enlarged outer end of the collar. The tube or sleeve ends 13 when thus contracted will grip the handle legs 23 and the supporting leg portions 17 for clamping said parts 23 or 17 in adjusted positions in the tubular members 13.

The front section 11 also includes a pair of bracket plates 3.1 the corresponding ends of which are welded or otherwise secured as seen at 32 to the outer sides of the tubular members 13, near their upper ends. The plates 31 extend rearwardly from said tubular members; 13 and as best seen in Figures 4 and 8 are provided on their inner sides with pairs of lugs 33 having aligned threaded bores 34. A screw 35 threadedly engages the aligned bores 34 of the lugs 33 of each plate 31 and each screw 35 has a restricted stem 36 at its inner end forming a stop, as will hereinafter become apparent. The screws 35 may be manually turned by a wing-like head 37 at their outer ends. A rod 38 extends between and is detachably secured to the bracket plates 31, said rod having internally threaded recesses or sockets 39 opening outwardly of the ends thereof to receive the threaded shanks of headed screws 40 which extend inwardly through openings 41 of the plates 31 to threadedly engage in said sockets 39. The heads of the screws 40 bear against the outer sides of the plates 31 for detachably securing the ends of the rod 38 to the bracket plates 31. The ends of the rod 38 are spaced from the lugs 33 and screws 35 and each rod end turnably supports a coupling 42 a sleeve portion 43 of which turnably engages the rod 38. The outer ends of the coupling sleeves 43 are externally thickened and provided with circumferentially extending grooves 44 to loosely receive the stop members 36 when the screws 35 Q are advanced inwardly toward the rod 38, to restrict turning of the couplings 42 on the rod 38 to arcs of a length corresponding to the lengths of the grooves 44.

The rod 38 and couplings 42 constitute a part of the rear section 12 which additionally includes a pair of legs 45 the upper ends of which are threadedly secured in sockets 46 of the couplings 42, which are disposed at right angles to the sleeves 43. The couplings 42 are applied to the upper ends of the legs 45 before the rod 38 is inserted through the sleeves 43. The legs 45 extend downwardly and rearwardly from the bracket plates 31 and have down-turned lower ends 47 which are disposed obliquely to the upper portion thereof, on each of which is mounted a foot member 48, similar to the foot members 19, and which foot members 48 are likewise preferably formed of rubber. The legs 45 are braced near their upper ends by a cross brace 49. Pairs of bearing members 50 are secured detachably to the cross brace 49 by fastenings 51 near the ends thereof. A trunnion block 52 is turnably and detachably disposed between the bearings of each pair of bearings 50. Each trunnion block 52 has trunnions 53 projecting from the ends thereof and which are journalled in the bearings 50.

A pair of ear members 54 is secured to the lower cross brace 15 near each end thereof, and said ear members 54 extend upwardly and forwardly from the cross brace 15. The apertured, flat and lower end 55 of a tube 56 loosely fits between the ears of each pair of ears 54 and is pivotally connected thereto by a pivot element 57 which extends loosely through said flattened end 55 and through the pair of ears 54. Each tube 56 constitutes a part of a pull spring and cushion unit, designated generally 58, two of which are provided, as illustrated in Figure 2 and each of which additionally includes a rod 59 a portion of which is slidably disposed in the tube 56 and which portion has a head 60 at the terminal thereof. An expansion coiled spring 61 is disposed on the rod 59 and has one end bearing against the head 60. The other end of the spring 61, which is loosely disposed in the tube 56, bears against a guide bushing 62 which is threaded into the opposite end of the tube 56 and through which a portion of the rod 59 slidably extends and in which said rod is supported and guided in its sliding movement in the tube 55. The other, outer end 63 of the rod 59 is threaded to engage a threaded bore 64 which extends transversely through the trunnion block 52 which is disposed in alignment with said tube 56 and which forms a part of the pull spring and cushion unit 58.

As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the Walker 10 provides a stable support with the foot members 19 and 48 resting on a supporting surface, such as the surface 65. The user, not shown, stands behind the walker 10 or to the left thereof as illustrated in Figure 1 grasping the handgrip 22 with both hands. By pressing downwardly on the handgrip the front section 11 will swing counterclockwise about the rod 38 as an axis with said rod turning in the sleeves 43, causing the front feet 19 to swing upwardly and forwardly from left to right of Figure 1 and back into engagement with the surface 65 in advance or to the right of the position of the front foot 19 in Figure l. As this occurs, the tubes 56 slide on the rods 59 so that the rods and tubes are extended and the springs 61 are compressed. The limit of this swinging movement is regulated by the stop elements 36 moving in the grooves 44; however, as the springs 61 are compresed they will function as cushioning members to check the swinging movement of the front section 1]. before the stop elements 36 reach corresponding ends of the grooves 44. During this movement the weight of the user and the weight of the walker 10 is supported by the rear legs 45 and rear feet 48. The user thereafter lifts upwardly slightly on the handle 22 whereupon the springs 61 will expand to pull the rods 59 inwardly of the tubes 56 to swing the rear section 12 counterclockwise about the rod 33 and toward the front section, after which the operation just described is repeated. In this manner, by a slight up and down pressure on the handle 22 the user may cause the walker 10 to move in a step by step movement across the surface 65, during all of which time the walker 10 will afford an adequate stable support for the user.

When the walker 10 is not in use the screws 35 may be turned by their handle elements 37 to disengage the stop elements 36 from the grooves 44 so that the rear section 12 may be swung further toward the front section 11 and toward a collapsed or folded position. To completely fold the rear section against the front section, the rods 59 may be turned to disengage the threaded ends 63 thereof from the trunnion blocks 52 or the pivots 57 may he removed.

The front legs 16 may be adjustably secured to the tubular members 13 to vary the spacing between the front foot members 19 and additionally to vary the spacing between the front and rear foot members. Likewise, the handle member 21 may be secured in difierent extnded positions relatively to the tubular members 13 to accommodate the walker for use by either adults or children.

Various other modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A walking aid of the character described comprising a front section and a rear section, said front section having laterally spaced front foot members constituting a lower end thereof and adapted to rest on a supporting surface, said front section having a cross member at its upper end forming a handgrip, means swingably connecting an upper end of said rear section to the front section substantially below the level of said handgrip for swinging movement of the sections relatively to one another in an operative position, said rear section including laterally spaced legs having lower ends terminating in foot members adapted to engage said supporting surface and combining with said front foot members for supporting the walker with the front and rear sections thereof extending upwardly in converging relationship from the foot members, and means limiting swinging movement of the rear section and the lower part of the front section toward and away from one another whereby an alternate up and down movement of the handgrip will cause each of the sections to alternately swing relatively to the other for causing the device to move along the supporting surface by alternate advancement of the front and rear foot members, said front section including an intermediate portion to which the rear section is swingabiy connected, a pair of front legs having upper ends slidably and turnably mounted in the lower end of said intermediate portion and having lower ends laterally offset from said upper ends and provided with said front foot members, and means adjustably clamping said upper ends of the front legs in the intermediate portion to mount the front foot members in different extended positions relatively to the intermediate portion, for varying the spacing between said front foot members and for varying the spacing between the front and rear foot members.

2. A walking aid of the character described comprising a front section and a rear section, each of said sections having transversely spaced leg members terminating at their lower ends in transversely spaced foot members adapted to rest on a supporting surface, said sections extending upwardly in converging relationship to one another from the front and rear foot members, means swingably connecting the upper end of said rear section to the front section substantially beneath the upper end of said front section for swinging movement of the sections relatively to one another when in an operative position, said front section having a handgrip at its upper end adapted to be manually swung upwardly and downwardly to cause the sections to alternately swing relatively to one another for movement thereby along the supporting surface, and spring retracted extensible means connecting the front and rear sections and urging said sections toward one another.

3. A walking aid as in claim 2, said front section including substantially parallel side portions, and means adjustably mounting the front foot members in diiferent oifset relationship to said side portions for varying the spacing between the front foot members and the front and rear foot members.

4. A walking aid as in claim 3, said spring retracted extensible means comprising a brace formed of rigid telescopically connected sections having end portions pivotally connected to the front and rear sections beneath and spaced from said connecting means, a spring engaging the brace sections and urging the sections toward retracted positions, and means adjustably connecting one end of the brace to one of said sections for varying the spacing between the front and rear sections in the different positions of movement thereof relative to one another and for varying the extent of movement of the sections relative to one another.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,570,307 Kirby Jan. 19, 1926 1,729,557 Stoll Sept. 24, 1929 1,902,166 Harter Mar. 21, 1933 2,159,301 Upton May 23, 1939 2,195,034 Miller Mar. 26, 1940 2,208,195 Paul July 16, 1940 2,244,869 Everest June 10, 1941 2,413,202 Vrooman Dec. 24, 1946 2,518,763 DuBois Aug. 15, 1950 2,534,539 Topper Dec. 19, 1950 2,656,874 Robb Oct. 27, 1953 

